Volume 170N of the Greek collection in the Loeb Classical Library, revised edition

Volume 6 of the Latin collection in the Loeb Classical Library, second edition 1988

The Loeb Classical Library (LCL; named after James Loeb/loʊb/) is a series of books, today published by Harvard University Press, which presents important works of ancient Greek and Latin literature in a way designed to make the text accessible to the broadest possible audience, by presenting the original Greek or Latin text on each left-hand page, and a fairly literal translation on the facing page. The General Editor is Jeffrey Henderson, holder of the William Goodwin Aurelio Professorship of Greek Language and Literature at Boston University.

The Loeb Classical Library was conceived and initially funded by the Jewish-German-American banker and philanthropist James Loeb (1867–1933). The first volumes were edited by T. E. Page, W. H. D. Rouse, and Edward Capps, and published by William Heinemann, Ltd. in 1912, already in their distinctive green (for Greek text) and red (for Latin) hardcover bindings. Since then scores of new titles have been added, and the earliest translations have been revised several times. In recent years, this has included the removal of earlier editions' bowdlerization, which habitually extended to reversal of gender to disguise homosexual references or (in the case of early editions of Longus' Daphnis and Chloe) translated sexually explicit passages into Latin, rather than English.[citation needed]

Profit from the editions continues to fund graduate student fellowships at Harvard University.

The Loebs have only a minimal critical apparatus, when compared to other publications of the text. They are intended for the amateur reader of Greek or Latin, and are so nearly ubiquitous as to be instantly recognizable.[1]

The Loeb Library, with its Greek or Latin on one side of the page and its English on the other, came as a gift of freedom. ... The existence of the amateur was recognised by the publication of this Library, and to a great extent made respectable. ... The difficulty of Greek is not sufficiently dwelt upon, chiefly perhaps because the sirens who lure us to these perilous waters are generally scholars [who] have forgotten ... what those difficulties are. But for the ordinary amateur they are very real and very great; and we shall do well to recognise the fact and to make up our minds that we shall never be independent of our Loeb.

Harvard University assumed complete responsibility for the series in 1989 and in recent years four or five new or re-edited volumes have been published annually.

In 2001, Harvard University Press began issuing a second series of books with a similar format. The I Tatti Renaissance Library presents key Renaissance works in Latin with a facing English translation; it is bound similarly to the Loeb Classics, but in a larger format and with blue covers. A third series, the Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library, was introduced in 2010 covering works in Byzantine Greek, Medieval Latin, and Old English. Volumes have the same format as the I Tatti series, but with a brown cover. The Clay Sanskrit Library, bound in teal cloth, was also modeled on the Loeb Classical Library.

As the command of Latin among generalist historians and archaeologists shrank in the course of the 20th century, professionals came increasingly to rely on these texts designed for amateurs. As Birgitta Hoffmann remarked in 2001 of Tacitus' Agricola, "Unfortunately the first thing that happens in bilingual versions like the Loebs is that most of this apparatus vanishes and, if you use a translation, there is usually no way of knowing that there were problems with the text in the first place."[2]

In 2014, the Loeb Classical Library Foundation and Harvard University Press launched the digital Loeb Classical Library, described as "an interconnected, fully searchable, perpetually growing, virtual library of all that is important in Greek and Latin literature."[3][4]

L067) Volume I. Book 1: Christian Epigrams. Book 2: Christodorus of Thebes in Egypt. Book 3: The Cyzicene Epigrams. Book 4: The Proems of the Different Anthologies. Book 5: The Amatory Epigrams. Book 6: The Dedicatory Epigrams

L068) Volume II. Book 7: Sepulchral Epigrams. Book 8: The Epigrams of St. Gregory the Theologian

L084) Volume III. Book 9: The Declamatory Epigrams

L085) Volume IV. Book 10: The Hortatory and Admonitory Epigrams. Book 11: The Convivial and Satirical Epigrams. Book 12: Strato's Musa Puerilis

L086) Volume V. Book 13: Epigrams in Various Metres. Book 14: Arithmetical Problems, Riddles, Oracles. Book 15: Miscellanea. Book 16: Epigrams of the Planudean Anthology Not in the Palatine Manuscript

L197) Moralia: Volume I. The Education of Children. How the Young Man Should Study Poetry. On Listening to Lectures. How to Tell a Flatterer from a Friend. How a Man May Become Aware of His Progress in Virtue

L222) Moralia: Volume II. How to Profit by One's Enemies. On Having Many Friends. Chance. Virtue and Vice. Letter of Condolence to Apollonius. Advice About Keeping Well. Advice to Bride and Groom. The Dinner of the Seven Wise Men. Superstition

L245) Moralia: Volume III. Sayings of Kings and Commanders. Sayings of Romans. Sayings of Spartans. The Ancient Customs of the Spartans. Sayings of Spartan Women. Bravery of Women

L305) Moralia: Volume IV. Roman Questions. Greek Questions. Greek and Roman Parallel Stories. On the Fortune of the Romans. On the Fortune or the Virtue of Alexander. Were the Athenians More Famous in War or in Wisdom?

L306) Moralia: Volume V. Isis and Osiris. The E at Delphi. The Oracles at Delphi No Longer Given in Verse. The Obsolescence of Oracles

L337) Moralia: Volume VI. Can Virtue Be Taught? On Moral Virtue. On the Control of Anger. On Tranquility of Mind. On Brotherly Love. On Affection for Offspring. Whether Vice Be Sufficient to Cause Unhappiness. Whether the Affections of the Soul are Worse Than Those of the Body. Concerning Talkativeness. On Being a Busybody

L405) Moralia: Volume VII. On Love of Wealth. On Compliancy. On Envy and Hate. On Praising Oneself Inoffensively. On the Delays of the Divine Vengeance. On Fate. On the Sign of Socrates. On Exile. Consolation to His Wife

L424) Moralia: Volume VIII. Table-talk, Books 1–6

L425) Moralia: Volume IX. Table-Talk, Books 7–9. Dialogue on Love

L321) Moralia: Volume X. Love Stories. That a Philosopher Ought to Converse Especially With Men in Power. To an Uneducated Ruler. Whether an Old Man Should Engage in Public Affairs. Precepts of Statecraft. On Monarchy, Democracy, and Oligarchy. That We Ought Not To Borrow. Lives of the Ten Orators. Summary of a Comparison Between Aristophanes and Menander

L426) Moralia: Volume XI. On the Malice of Herodotus. Causes of Natural Phenomena

L406) Moralia: Volume XII. Concerning the Face Which Appears in the Orb of the Moon. On the Principle of Cold. Whether Fire or Water Is More Useful. Whether Land or Sea Animals Are Cleverer. Beasts Are Rational. On the Eating of Flesh

L427) Moralia: Volume XIII. Part 1. Platonic Essays

L470) Moralia: Volume XIII. Part 2. Stoic Essays

L428) Moralia: Volume XIV. That Epicurus Actually Makes a Pleasant Life Impossible. Reply to Colotes in Defence of the Other Philosophers. Is "Live Unknown" a Wise Precept? On Music

L014) Volume I. Phalaris. Hippias or The Bath. Dionysus. Heracles. Amber or The Swans. The Fly. Nigrinus. Demonax. The Hall. My Native Land. Octogenarians. A True Story. Slander. The Consonants at Law. The Carousal (Symposium) or The Lapiths

L054) Volume II. The Downward Journey or The Tyrant. Zeus Catechized. Zeus Rants. The Dream or The Cock. Prometheus. Icaromenippus or The Sky-man. Timon or The Misanthrope. Charon or The Inspectors. Philosophies for Sale

L130) Volume III. The Dead Come to Life or The Fisherman. The Double Indictment or Trials by Jury. On Sacrifices. The Ignorant Book Collector. The Dream or Lucian's Career. The Parasite. The Lover of Lies. The Judgement of the Goddesses. On Salaried Posts in Great Houses

L162) Volume IV. Anacharsis or Athletics. Menippus or The Descent into Hades. On Funerals. A Professor of Public Speaking. Alexander the False Prophet. Essays in Portraiture. Essays in Portraiture Defended. The Goddesse of Surrye

L430) Volume VI. How to Write History. The Dipsads. Saturnalia. Herodotus or Aetion. Zeuxis or Antiochus. A Slip of the Tongue in Greeting. Apology for the "Salaried Posts in Great Houses." Harmonides. A Conversation with Hesiod. The Scythian or The Consul. Hermotimus or Concerning the Sects. To One Who Said "You're a Prometheus in Words." The Ship or The Wishes

L431) Volume VII. Dialogues of the Dead. Dialogues of the Sea-Gods. Dialogues of the Gods. Dialogues of the Courtesans

1.
Greek literature
–
Greek literature refers to writings composed in areas of Greek influence throughout the period in which the Greek-speaking people have existed. Ancient Greek literature refers to literature written in an Ancient Greek dialect and this literature ranges from the oldest surviving written works until works from approximately the fifth century CE. This time period is divided into the Preclassical, Classical, Hellenistic, Preclassical Greek literature primarily revolved around myths and include the works of Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Classical period saw the dawn of drama and history. Three philosophers are especially notable, Socrates, Plato, during the Roman era, significant contributions were made in a variety of subjects, including history, philosophy, and the sciences. Byzantine literature refers to literature of the Byzantine Empire written in Atticizing, Medieval, chronicles, distinct from historics, arose in this period. Encyclopedias also flourished in this period, Modern Greek literature refers to literature written in common Modern Greek. The Cretan Renaissance poem Erotokritos is one of the most significant works from time period. Adamantios Korais and Rigas Feraios are two of the most notable figures, Ancient Greek literature refers to literature written in Ancient Greek dialects. These works range from the oldest surviving works in the Greek language until works from the fifth century CE. The Greek language arose from the language, roughly two-thirds of its words can be derived from various reconstructions of the tongue. The Greeks created poetry before making use of writing for literary purposes, poems created in the Preclassical period were meant to be sung or recited. Most poems focused on myths, legends that were part folktale, tragedies and comedies emerged around 600 BCE. At the beginning of Greek literature stand the works of Homer, the Iliad, though dates of composition vary, these works were fixed around 800 BCE or after. Another significant figure was the poet Hesiod and his two surviving works are Works and Days and Theogony. During the classical period, many of the genres of western literature became more prominent, the two major lyrical poets were Sappho and Pindar. Of the hundreds of written and performed during this time period. These plays are authored by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, the comedy arose from a ritual in honor of Dionysus. These plays were full of obscenity, abuse, and insult, the surviving plays by Aristophanes are a treasure trove of comic presentation

2.
Boston University
–
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The university has more than 3,900 faculty members and nearly 33,000 students and it offers bachelors degrees, masters degrees, and doctorates, and medical, dental, business, and law degrees through 17 schools and colleges on two urban campuses. The main campus is situated along the Charles River in Bostons Fenway-Kenmore and Allston neighborhoods, BU is categorized as an R1, Doctoral University in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. BU is a member of the Boston Consortium for Higher Education, the University was ranked 39th among undergraduate programs at national universities, and 32nd among global universities by U. S. News & World Report in its 2017 rankings. In 1876, BU professor Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in a BU lab, American Civil Rights Movement leader and 1964 Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. received his PhD in Theology from BU in 1955. The Boston University Terriers compete in the NCAAs Division I, BU athletic teams compete in the Patriot League, and Hockey East conferences, and their mascot is Rhett the Boston Terrier. Boston University is well known for hockey, in which it has won five national championships. The University organized formal Centennial observances both in 1939 and 1969, on April 24–25,1839 a group of Methodist ministers and laymen at the Old Bromfield Street Church in Boston elected to establish a Methodist theological school. Set up in Newbury, Vermont, the school was named the Newbury Biblical Institute, in 1847, the Congregational Society in Concord, New Hampshire, invited the Institute to relocate to Concord and offered a disused Congregational church building with a capacity of 1200 people. Other citizens of Concord covered the remodeling costs, one stipulation of the invitation was that the Institute remain in Concord for at least 20 years. The charter issued by New Hampshire designated the school the Methodist General Biblical Institute, with the agreed twenty years coming to a close, the Trustees of the Concord Biblical Institute purchased 30 acres on Aspinwall Hill in Brookline, Massachusetts, as a possible relocation site. The institute moved in 1867 to 23 Pinkney Street in Boston, in 1869, three Trustees of the Boston Theological Institute obtained from the Massachusetts Legislature a charter for a university by name of Boston University. These three were successful Boston businessmen and Methodist laymen, with a history of involvement in educational enterprises and they were Isaac Rich, Lee Claflin, and Jacob Sleeper, for whom Boston Universitys three West Campus dormitories are named. Lee Claflins son, William, was then Governor of Massachusetts, on account of the religious opinions he may entertain, provided, nonetheless, that this section shall not apply to the theological department of said University. Every department of the new university was open to all on an equal footing regardless of sex, race. The Boston Theological Institute was absorbed into Boston University in 1871 as the BU School of Theology, in January 1872 Isaac Rich died, leaving the vast bulk of his estate to a trust that would go to Boston University after ten years of growth while the University was organized. Most of this bequest consisted of real estate throughout the core of the city of Boston and was appraised at more than $1.5 million, Kilgore describes this as the largest single donation to an American college or university to that time

3.
Harvard University
–
Although never formally affiliated with any denomination, the early College primarily trained Congregationalist and Unitarian clergy. Its curriculum and student body were gradually secularized during the 18th century, james Bryant Conant led the university through the Great Depression and World War II and began to reform the curriculum and liberalize admissions after the war. The undergraduate college became coeducational after its 1977 merger with Radcliffe College, Harvards $34.5 billion financial endowment is the largest of any academic institution. Harvard is a large, highly residential research university, the nominal cost of attendance is high, but the Universitys large endowment allows it to offer generous financial aid packages. Harvards alumni include eight U. S. presidents, several heads of state,62 living billionaires,359 Rhodes Scholars. To date, some 130 Nobel laureates,18 Fields Medalists, Harvard was formed in 1636 by vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In 1638, it obtained British North Americas first known printing press, in 1639 it was named Harvard College after deceased clergyman John Harvard an alumnus of the University of Cambridge who had left the school £779 and his scholars library of some 400 volumes. The charter creating the Harvard Corporation was granted in 1650 and it offered a classic curriculum on the English university model‍—‌many leaders in the colony had attended the University of Cambridge‍—‌but conformed to the tenets of Puritanism. It was never affiliated with any denomination, but many of its earliest graduates went on to become clergymen in Congregational. The leading Boston divine Increase Mather served as president from 1685 to 1701, in 1708, John Leverett became the first president who was not also a clergyman, which marked a turning of the college toward intellectual independence from Puritanism. When the Hollis Professor of Divinity David Tappan died in 1803 and the president of Harvard Joseph Willard died a year later, in 1804, in 1846, the natural history lectures of Louis Agassiz were acclaimed both in New York and on the campus at Harvard College. Agassizs approach was distinctly idealist and posited Americans participation in the Divine Nature, agassizs perspective on science combined observation with intuition and the assumption that a person can grasp the divine plan in all phenomena. When it came to explaining life-forms, Agassiz resorted to matters of shape based on an archetype for his evidence. Charles W. Eliot, president 1869–1909, eliminated the position of Christianity from the curriculum while opening it to student self-direction. While Eliot was the most crucial figure in the secularization of American higher education, he was motivated not by a desire to secularize education, during the 20th century, Harvards international reputation grew as a burgeoning endowment and prominent professors expanded the universitys scope. Rapid enrollment growth continued as new schools were begun and the undergraduate College expanded. Radcliffe College, established in 1879 as sister school of Harvard College, Harvard became a founding member of the Association of American Universities in 1900. In the early 20th century, the student body was predominately old-stock, high-status Protestants, especially Episcopalians, Congregationalists, by the 1970s it was much more diversified

4.
Virginia Woolf
–
Adeline Virginia Woolf was an English writer and one of the foremost modernists of the twentieth century. During the interwar period, Woolf was a significant figure in London literary society, Woolf suffered from severe bouts of mental illness throughout her life and took her own life by drowning in 1941 at the age of 59. Virginia Woolf was born Adeline Virginia Stephen at 22 Hyde Park Gate in Kensington, London and her parents were Sir Leslie Stephen and Julia Prinsep Duckworth Stephen. Julia Stephen was born in British India to Dr. John and she was the niece of the photographer Julia Margaret Cameron and first cousin of the temperance leader Lady Henry Somerset. Julia moved to England with her mother, where she served as a model for Pre-Raphaelite painters such as Edward Burne-Jones, Woolf was educated by her parents in their literate and well-connected household. Her parents had each been married previously and been widowed, and, consequently, Julia had three children by her first husband, Herbert Duckworth, George, Stella, and Gerald Duckworth. Leslie and Julia had four children together, Vanessa Stephen, Thoby Stephen, Virginia, Henry James, George Henry Lewes, and Virginias honorary godfather, James Russell Lowell, were among the visitors to the house. Julia Stephen was equally well connected, supplementing these influences was the immense library at the Stephens house, from which Virginia and Vanessa were taught the classics and English literature. Unlike the girls, their brothers Adrian and Julian were formally educated and sent to Cambridge, the sisters did, however, benefit indirectly from their brothers Cambridge contacts, as the boys brought their new intellectual friends home to the Stephens drawing room. According to Woolfs memoirs, her most vivid memories were not of London but of St Ives, Cornwall. The Stephens summer home, Talland House, looked out over Porthminster Bay, memories of these family holidays and impressions of the landscape, especially the Godrevy Lighthouse, informed the fiction Woolf wrote in later years, most notably To the Lighthouse. She describes why she felt so connected to Talland House in an entry dated March 22nd,1921. Why am I so incredibly and incurably romantic about Cornwall. One’s past, I suppose, I see children running in the garden … The sound of the sea at night … almost forty years of life, all built on that, permeated by that, so much I could never explain. The sudden death of her mother in 1895, when Virginia was thirteen, after her mother and half-sister, she quickly lost her surrogate mother, Stella Duckworth, as well as her cherished brother Thoby, when he was in his mid-20s. She was, however, able to take courses of study in Ancient Greek, Latin, German and this brought her into contact with some of the early reformers of womens higher education such as the principal of the Ladies Department, Lilian Faithfull, Clara Pater and George Warr. Her sister Vanessa also studied Latin, Italian, art and architecture at Kings Ladies Department, in 2013 Woolf was honoured by her alma mater with the opening of a building named after her on Kingsway. The death of her father in 1904 provoked her most alarming collapse and she spent time recovering at her friend Violet Dickinsons house, and at her aunt Carolines house in Cambridge

5.
Iliad
–
The Iliad is an ancient Greek epic poem in dactylic hexameter, traditionally attributed to Homer. Then the epic narrative takes up events prophesied for the future, such as Achilles imminent death and the fall of Troy, although the narrative ends before these events take place. However, as events are prefigured and alluded to more and more vividly. The Iliad is paired with something of a sequel, the Odyssey, along with the Odyssey, the Iliad is among the oldest extant works of Western literature, and its written version is usually dated to around the 8th century BC. Recent statistical modelling based on language evolution gives a date of 760–710 BC, in the modern vulgate, the Iliad contains 15,693 lines, it is written in Homeric Greek, a literary amalgam of Ionic Greek and other dialects. Note, Book numbers are in parentheses and come before the synopsis of the book, after an invocation to the Muses, the story launches in medias res towards the end of the Trojan War between the Trojans and the besieging Greeks. Chryses, a Trojan priest of Apollo, offers the Greeks wealth for the return of his daughter Chryseis, held captive of Agamemnon, although most of the Greek army is in favour of the offer, Agamemnon refuses. Chryses prays for Apollos help, and Apollo causes a plague to afflict the Greek army, after nine days of plague, Achilles, the leader of the Myrmidon contingent, calls an assembly to deal with the problem. Under pressure, Agamemnon agrees to return Chryseis to her father, angered, Achilles declares that he and his men will no longer fight for Agamemnon but will go home. Odysseus takes a ship and returns Chryseis to her father, whereupon Apollo ends the plague, in the meantime, Agamemnons messengers take Briseis away. Achilles becomes very upset, sits by the seashore, and prays to his mother, Achilles asks his mother to ask Zeus to bring the Greeks to the breaking point by the Trojans, so Agamemnon will realize how much the Greeks need Achilles. Thetis does so, and Zeus agrees, Zeus sends a dream to Agamemnon, urging him to attack Troy. Agamemnon heeds the dream but decides to first test the Greek armys morale, the plan backfires, and only the intervention of Odysseus, inspired by Athena, stops a rout. Odysseus confronts and beats Thersites, a soldier who voices discontent about fighting Agamemnons war. After a meal, the Greeks deploy in companies upon the Trojan plain, the poet takes the opportunity to describe the provenance of each Greek contingent. When news of the Greek deployment reaches King Priam, the Trojans too sortie upon the plain, in a list similar to that for the Greeks, the poet describes the Trojans and their allies. The armies approach each other, but before they meet, Paris offers to end the war by fighting a duel with Menelaus, urged by his brother and head of the Trojan army, Hector. While Helen tells Priam about the Greek commanders from the walls of Troy, Paris is beaten, but Aphrodite rescues him and leads him to bed with Helen before Menelaus can kill him

6.
Odyssey
–
The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the Odyssey is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second-oldest extant work of Western literature, the Iliad is the oldest. Scholars believe the Odyssey was composed near the end of the 8th century BC, somewhere in Ionia, the poem mainly focuses on the Greek hero Odysseus, king of Ithaca, and his journey home after the fall of Troy. It takes Odysseus ten years to reach Ithaca after the ten-year Trojan War. In his absence, it is assumed Odysseus has died, and his wife Penelope and son Telemachus must deal with a group of suitors, the Mnesteres or Proci. The Odyssey continues to be read in the Homeric Greek and translated into languages around the world. Many scholars believe the poem was composed in an oral tradition by an aoidos, perhaps a rhapsode. The details of the ancient oral performance and the conversion to a written work inspire continual debate among scholars. The Odyssey was written in a dialect of Greek—a literary amalgam of Aeolic Greek, Ionic Greek. Among the most noteworthy elements of the text are its non-linear plot, in the English language as well as many others, the word odyssey has come to refer to an epic voyage. The Odyssey has a lost sequel, the Telegony, which was not written by Homer and it was usually attributed in antiquity to Cinaethon of Sparta. In one source, the Telegony was said to have stolen from Musaeus by either Eugamon or Eugammon of Cyrene. The Odyssey begins ten years after the end of the ten-year Trojan War, and Odysseus has still not returned home from the war. Odysseus protectress, the goddess Athena, requests to Zeus, king of the gods, to finally allow Odysseus to return home when Odysseus enemy, then, disguised as a Taphian chieftain named Mentes, she visits Telemachus to urge him to search for news of his father. He offers her hospitality, they observe the suitors dining rowdily while the bard Phemius performs a poem for them. Penelope objects to Phemius theme, the Return from Troy, because it reminds her of her missing husband and that night Athena, disguised as Telemachus, finds a ship and crew for the true prince. The next morning, Telemachus calls an assembly of citizens of Ithaca to discuss what should be done with the suitors. Accompanied by Athena, he departs for the Greek mainland and the household of Nestor, most venerable of the Greek warriors at Troy, now at home in Pylos

7.
Hesiod
–
Hesiod was a Greek poet generally thought by scholars to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded as the first written poet in the Western tradition to regard himself as a persona with an active role to play in his subject. Ancient authors credited Hesiod and Homer with establishing Greek religious customs, modern scholars refer to him as a major source on Greek mythology, farming techniques, early economic thought, archaic Greek astronomy and ancient time-keeping. The dating of his life is an issue in scholarly circles. Epic narrative allowed poets like Homer no opportunity for personal revelations, however, Hesiods extant work comprises didactic poems in which he went out of his way to let his audience in on a few details of his life. There are three references in Works and Days, as well as some passages in his Theogony that support inferences made by scholars. Some scholars have seen Perses as a creation, a foil for the moralizing that Hesiod develops in Works and Days. Gregory Nagy, on the hand, sees both Persēs and Hēsiodos as fictitious names for poetical personae. The family association with Cyme might explain his familiarity with eastern myths, evident in his poems, however, while his poetry features some Aeolisms there are no words that are certainly Boeotian—he composed in the main literary dialect of the time, Ionian. Pausanias asserted that Boeotians showed him an old tablet made of lead on which the Works were engraved. If he did write or dictate, it was perhaps as an aid to memory or because he lacked confidence in his ability to produce poems extempore and it certainly wasnt in a quest for immortal fame since poets in his era had no such notions. However, some suspect the presence of large-scale changes in the text. Possibly he composed his verses during idle times on the farm and he was in fact a misogynist of the same calibre as the later poet, Semonides. He resembles Solon in his preoccupation with issues of good versus evil and how a just and he resembles Aristophanes in his rejection of the idealised hero of epic literature in favour of an idealised view of the farmer. Yet the fact that he could eulogise kings in Theogony and denounce them as corrupt in Works, two different—yet early—traditions record the site of Hesiods grave. This tradition follows a familiar ironic convention, the oracle that predicts accurately after all, the other tradition, first mentioned in an epigram by Chersias of Orchomenus written in the 7th century BC claims that Hesiod lies buried at Orchomenus, a town in Boeotia. Eventually they came to regard Hesiod too as their hearth-founder, later writers attempted to harmonize these two accounts. Greeks in the fifth and early 4th centuries BC considered their oldest poets to be Orpheus, Musaeus, Hesiod

8.
Catalogue of Women
–
The Catalogue of Women — also known as the Ehoiai — is a fragmentary Greek epic poem that was attributed to Hesiod during Archaic Greece. The women of the title were in fact heroines, many of whom lay with gods, in contrast with the focus upon narrative in the Homeric Iliad and Odyssey, the Catalogue was structured around a vast system of genealogies stemming from these unions and, in M. L. Wests appraisal, covered the whole of the heroic age, still, the Catalogue is much better attested than most lost works, with some 1,300 whole or partial lines surviving, between a third and a quarter of the original poem, by one estimate. Ancient authors most commonly referred to the poem as the Catalogue of Women, or simply the Catalogue and this nickname also provided the standard title for a similar Hesiodic work, the Megalai Ehoiai or Great Ehoiai. As is reflected by its use as a title, the ē hoiē-formula was one of the poems most recognizable features. A characteristic example is found in the introduction of the daughters of Porthaon at Cat. fr. 26. 5–9, The preceding section of the poem had dealt at length with the extended family of Porthaons sister Demodice. Here ē hoiai is used to jump backwards in order to complete the account of the descendants of Porthaon, elsewhere the formula is used in transitions to more distant branches. The Ehoie of Mestra, for example, ultimately serves to reintroduce the family of Sisyphus, although that marriage does not take place, the descendants of Sisyphus are soon presented. According to the Suda, the Catalogue was five books long, the length of each is unknown, but it is likely that the entire poem consisted of anywhere from 4000 to over 5000 lines. One papyrus includes line numbers which, taken together with the system of overlaps among the other sources, immortals who slept with mortal men, bearing children like gods. The first allowed for the liaisons that are the ostensible subject, gods. A further significant detail about the condition is offered next in one of the most puzzling passages of the Catalogue. The differing fates of the heroes are described, some appear to have lived a long life characterized by perpetual youth. The papyrus is damaged at this point, and the implications of these comparisons are unknown. The Muses are next addressed again, asked to sing of however many lay with, siring the race of glorious kings. the repeated use of the introductory phrase or such as. And it is likely that this first woman treated was Pyrrha, Zeus unsurprisingly had first pick from the catalogue of women, and sired Hellen by Pyrrha. Pyrrha also had three daughters by Deucalion, Thyia, Protogeneia and Pandora, who was named for her maternal grandmother, like their mother, these three lay with Zeus, bearing sons from whom several early Greek tribes were said to descend

9.
Dionysiaca
–
The Dionysiaca is an ancient epic poem and the principal work of Nonnus. The poem is thought to have written in the late 4th and/or early 5th century AD. It has been conjectured that a conversion to Christianity or death caused Nonnus to abandon the poem after some revisions. Editors have pointed out inconsistencies and the difficulties of Book 39 which appears to be a disjointed series of descriptions. Others have attributed these problems to copyists or later editors, the primary models for Nonnus are Homer and the Cyclic poets, Homeric language, metrics, episodes, and descriptive canons are central to the Dionysiaca. The influence of Euripides Bacchae is also significant, as is probably the influence of the other tragedians whose Dionysiac plays do not survive, hesiods poetry, especially the Catalogue of Women, Pindar, and Callimachus can all be seen in the work of Nonnus. Theocritus influence can be detected in Nonnus focus on pastoral themes, finally, Virgil and especially Ovid seem to have influenced Nonnus organization of the poem. Nonnus seems to have been an important influence for the poets of Late Antiquity, especially Musaeus, Colluthus, Christodorus, although it is difficult to determine whether Claudian influenced Nonnus or Nonnus influenced Claudian, the two poets have some striking similarities in their treatments of Persephone. Nonnus remained continuously important in the Byzantine world, and his influence can be found in Genesius, in the Renaissance, Poliziano popularized him to the West, and Goethe admired him in the 18th century. He was also admired by Thomas Love Peacock in 19th-century England, the metrics of Nonnus have been widely admired by scholars for the poets careful handling of dactylic hexameter and innovation. It is especially remarkable that Nonnus was so exacting with meter because the meter of classical poetry was giving way in Nonnus time to stressed meter. These metrical restraints encouraged the creation of new compounds, adjectives, and coined words, the poem is notably varied in its organization. Nonnus does not seem to arrange his poem in a chronology, rather, episodes are arranged by a loose chronological order and by topic. The poem states as its guiding principle poikilia, diversity in narrative, form, the appearance of Proteus, a shapeshifting god, in the proem serves as a metaphor for Nonnus varied style. Nonnus employs the style of the epyllion for many of his narrative sections, such as his treatment of Ampelus in 10–11, Nicaea in 15–16 and these epyllia are inserted into the general narrative framework and are some of the highlights of the poem. Nonnus also employs synkrisis, comparison, throughout his poem, most notably in the comparison of Dionysus, the complexity of organization and the richness of the language have caused the style of the poem to be termed Nonnian Baroque. The size of Nonnus poem and its late date between Imperial and Byzantine literature have caused the Dionysiaca to receive little attention from scholars. But the very correctness of the versification renders it monotonous and his influence on the vocabulary of his successors was likewise very considerable, expressing the 19th-century attitude to this poem as a pretty, artificial, and disorganized collection of stories

10.
Argonautica
–
The Argonautica is a Greek epic poem written by Apollonius Rhodius in the 3rd century BC. The only surviving Hellenistic epic, the Argonautica tells the myth of the voyage of Jason and it was the age of the great Library of Alexandria, and his epic incorporates his researches in geography, ethnography, comparative religion, and Homeric literature. However, his contribution to the epic tradition lies in his development of the love between hero and heroine – he seems to have been the first narrative poet to study the pathology of love. According to some accounts, a hostile reception even led to his exile to Rhodes, the literary fashion was for small, meticulous poems, featuring displays of erudition and paradoxography, as represented by the work of Callimachus. Even if the attempt to pass through the mountain of books succeeds, there is no hope of a pause. Since scholarship is a key feature of this story, here is a preview of some of the main issues in the poets treatment of the Argonaut myth. Callimachus set the standards for Hellenistic aesthetics in poetry and, according to ancient sources, modern scholars generally dismiss these sources as unreliable and point to similarities in the poetry of the two men. Callimachus, for example, composed a book of verses dealing with aitia, according to one survey, there are eighty aitia in Argonautica. Yet Argonautica is clearly intended to be fundamentally Homeric and therefore seems at odds with the poetics of Callimachus. Addressing the issue of heroism in Argonautica, the German classicist H. Fränkel once noted some unheroic characteristics of Jason, in particular, their frequent moods of despair and depression, summed up in the word ἀμηχανία or helplessness. By contrast, the bullying Argonaut Idas seemed to Fränkel an ugly example of the archaic warrior and it looks as if Apollonius meant to underscore the obsolescence of traditional heroism in the Hellenistic period. These arguments have caused much discussion among scholars about the treatment, another fruitful discussion gained impetus from an article by D. A. Van Krevelen, who dismissed all the characters, apart from Medea, as flimsy extras without any interesting qualities. So the question arises, is the poem a unified narrative, or is the epic plot merely a coathanger for erudite, there is some dispute about the date when the poem was originally published. It could have been during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, according to Jackie Murray, the poem was published at the time of Ptolemy III Euergetes. Apollonius Argonautica was based on ancient sources, including Homer. The story of the expedition seems to have known to the author of the Odyssey, who states. Jason is mentioned several times in the Iliad, but not as the leader of the Argonauts. Hesiod relates the story of Jason saying that he fetched Medeia at the command of his uncle Pelias, and that she him a son, Medeius

The Catalogue of Women (Ancient Greek: Γυναικῶν Κατάλογος, Gynaikôn Katálogos) — also known as the Ehoiai (Ἠοῖαι, …

A papyrus fragment containing the beginning of the Atlantid Electra's family from book 3 or 4 (Cat. fr. 177 = P.Oxy. XI 1359 fr. 2, second century CE, Oxyrhynchus)

Erysichthon sells his daughter Mestra. An engraving from among Johann Wilhelm Baur's illustrations of Ovid's Metamorphoses, which included a version the myth that differed from Mestra's story in the Catalogue.

The beginning of the Atalanta-Ehoie (Cat. fr. 73. 1–7 = P.Lit.Lond. 32, third century BC, Gurob)

Sappho (1877) by Charles Mengin (1853–1933). One tradition claims that Sappho committed suicide by jumping off of the Leucadian cliff.

Sappho inspired ancient poets and artists, including the vase painter from the Group of Polygnotos who depicted her on this red-figure hydria.

In the medieval period, Sappho had a reputation as an educated woman and talented poet. In this woodcut, illustrating an early incunable of Boccaccio's De mulieribus claris, she is portrayed surrounded by books and musical instruments.

A 2nd century AD papyrus of Alcaeus, one of the many such fragments that have contributed to our greatly improved knowledge of Alcaeus' poetry during the 20th century (P.Berol. inv. 9810 = fr. 137 L.–P.).

Theseus triumphing over the notorious thug Procrustes – here depicted by the artist Euphronios. Bacchylides celebrated such victories by Theseus in one of his dithyrambs, sung in the form of a dialogue between chorus and chorus-leader (poem 18).

Coin from ancient Thasos showing Satyr and nymph, dated to late fifth century BC. Archilochus was involved in the Parian colonization of Thasos about two centuries before the coin was minted. His poetry includes vivid accounts of life as a warrior, seafarer and lover.

A small papyrus scrap first published in 1908 which is derived from the same ancient manuscript of Archilochus that yielded the most recent discovery (P.Oxy. VI 854, 2nd century CE).

Ioulis, present-day capital of Kea (Ceos in Ancient Greek), including remnants of the ancient acropolis. Like most Cycladic settlements, it was built inland on a readily defensible hill as protection against pirates

Tyrtaeus (Greek: Τυρταῖος Tyrtaios) was a Greek lyric poet from Sparta who composed verses around the time of the …

Bronze Spartan shield captured by Athenian soldiers at the Battle of Pylos in 425 BC and now stored in the Ancient Agora Museum. Tyrtaeus's poetry often advises Spartans how to handle their weapons and armour but, like the shield here, only a small portion survives today. Ancient Athenians claimed that Tyrtaeus was actually Athenian by birth. Some modern scholars also believe the poetry was composed by Athenians, probably in the 5th or 4th century BC.